Man's Best Friend
by Kitty XIII
Summary: Saving the world is a cinch for AVALANCHE.  Daily life?  Not so much. And to make things harder, Tifa gets a dog.  But there's something strange about their new pet...and he'll change their lives, one day at a time. PostAC. CloTi. Rated for language.


_A/N: Hello everyone! So this story is a bit of an experiment; it takes place sometime after Advent Children._

_This will be a **CloTi** pairing._

_All other pairings are yet undecided. Your suggestions/requests do factor into my ultimate decisions! Speak up and you shall be heard._

_If you don't want the story to be spoiled, please DO NOT LOOK at the main characters listed as involved in the story._

_Thanks!_

**_Extended summary: _**

_"Tifa's still running the bar Seventh Heaven, Cloud's still playing absentee father figure, and the rest of the former AVALANCHE is now running about taking care of the general aches and pains of daily life that does not have to do with killing a certain almost-god ex-SOLDIER gone insane._

_And then Tifa (and, by default, Cloud & Co.) gets a dog. _

_Under highly...unusual circumstances._

_It seems reasonable enough; Marlene and Denzel get the pet/playmate/extra family member that they've always wanted and the rest of AVALANCHE now has an excuse to come back and visit Tifa/Cloud/Marlene/Denzel other than "Spiky won't pick up his goddamn phone." But Tifa suspects that there's something different about the all-white dog with the blue eyes and the omnipresent smirk...something different, indeed, but in a very, very familiar way._

_Now Tifa's left to wonder...just where did this dog in white come from?"_

_The first chapter is unusually long for this story; the rest of this will be published in an anecdotal style, with each chapter focusing on a different aspect of daily life in the Strife/Lockhart household and how the new family pet changes it (for better or for worse). There's also an underlying, long-term plot that recurs throughout the story, so keep an eye out!_

_Update frequency/length will depend on how the story is received, so suggestions are welcome!_

_Please enjoy!_

* * *

><p><em>Scuff, scuff, scuff, SPLASH, scuff—<em>

Tifa stopped walking and sighed as she felt water drenching her almost-dry socks. Again. She winced as she felt her foot squelch around noisily in the confines of her shoe and reached down with her non-grocery-laden hand to readjust it and—

—dropped her keys in a puddle of water.

Tifa resisted the urge to throw the bag of groceries into the nearest building and instead scowled up at the dreary, rainy heavens, cursing whichever unmerciful god had decided to break out the waterworks the _one night_ that Tifa needed to make a midnight pit stop at the supermarket.

It didn't matter if she had saved the world – twice. Sometimes there was just no winning.

Renewing her patience, Tifa leaned down – carefully – and fixed her shoe, snagging her keys on her way up. Ignoring the hair plastered to her cheeks and the rain running in her eyes, Tifa quickened her pace, rounded the corner, and almost sighed in relief.

There. Seventh Heaven. Just a few more yards, and then she'd be home.

She jogged the last few steps to the porch, taking care to avoid spilling the contents of the paper bag – she'd had _quite_ enough mishap for that night, thank you very much – and practically skipped up the stairs to the front door.

And then stopped cold in her tracks.

_What in Jenova's name—?_

Lying impressively across the "Welcome Home!" doormat that Marlene and Denzel had made for Tifa's last birthday was a gigantic, soggy white fur coat. Or maybe it was some poor animal's carcass. In any case, it was massive, vaguely furry, a sickly shade of off-white, and, most importantly, _it was blocking her goddamn front door_.

Tifa's eyes narrowed. Her fist tightened around the key ring, and the metal groaned in response. Yuffie Kisaragi was like a sister to Tifa and she loved her like one (most of the time. At the very least, she could tolerate her), but if this was the little klepto's idea of a _joke_—

And then the giant fur-coat/carcass/cocoon-thing moved.

Tifa almost – almost – squeaked as she skittered back and nearly fell off of the porch. _That thing is __**alive**__?_

A throaty rumble emanated from the pile of soaking fur, and Tifa could begin to distinguish a neat pair of pointed ears; four slender, bandy legs ending in dainty little paws; a narrow, slightly whiskered muzzle; and a long, somewhat deflated-looking tail that still managed to move more gracefully than your average snake.

Tifa blinked. It – whatever 'it' was – bared a row of very white, very sharp teeth at her and gave that low, warning growl again, its hackles bristling as it stood. She wasn't quite sure what to call it – too lightly built to be just a dog or a Guard Hound, but certainly too big to be anything less than a mountain lion; face, legs, and tail of a fox, but with the shoulders and chest of any self-respecting wolf. And the coloring – Tifa was pretty sure she'd never seen any beast walking, flying, or swimming with that particular shade of bizarre silver-gray.

"And just what are _you_ supposed to be?"

It nailed its ears flat against its skull at the mere sound of her voice, its growls crescendoing, and Tifa knew enough about dog psychology to recognize _that_ look.

Any consideration of adopting the weird…_thing_ evaporated. Humanitarian she might be, but Tifa would _not_ tolerate a mouthy – dog-thing?

Tifa sighed. 'Dog-thing.' She'd just called it a 'dog-thing.' Her brain was obviously telling her that it was too tired to handle this kind of crap.

"Okay." Tifa set the groceries carefully on the dry porch swing and stretched her arms. "I'm going to give you ten seconds to get your sorry tail off of my porch and back out into the rain before I put you there myself." She didn't care how crazy or irrational she was being, expecting a dog to follow verbal commands. She was wet, tired, and just wanted to go inside to Marlene, Denzel, and the warm promise of comfort from her wonderfully dry bed. "One."

The dog-thing seemed unsure of what to do, black lips still raised from pointy teeth, but its ears lifted slightly, its tail moving slowly back and forth in a sinuous version of a wag. Tifa then realized that it was favoring its right paw, and, if she wasn't mistaken, there was blood darkening a patch of its fur. In fact, its legs – along with its whole body – were shaking. With cold or fear, she wasn't sure, but…

Tifa sighed for the hundredth time that night. She didn't shoo the dog away, didn't count to ten, and certainly didn't throw it bodily off of her porch like she'd been planning on doing up until five seconds ago.

"You better consider yourself lucky that I have a soft spot for dogs," Tifa mumbled a little grumpily as she recollected the groceries and stepped forward, key in hand. Just as she'd expected, the dog-thing backed off, nails clicking against the wood as it circled around her, giving her wide berth as she fumbled with the lock and the key.

When Tifa finally heaved the door open with her shoulder, she paused for a moment to re-examine the dog-thing. It was definitely shivering, just as drenched and miserable as she while every raindrop trickling through its fur stole its body heat. _And_ it was still bleeding, though she couldn't tell the extent of the damage from where she stood.

Tifa sighed one last time…and pushed the door open farther with her foot. "So. Are you coming in?"

The dog-thing gazed at her uncomprehendingly for an instant, its eyes – beautiful eyes, too, light, ice-blue scattered through with splinters of green – flickering between the open door and Tifa's amused expression. Tifa could have undoubtedly have been imagining things, but the dog-thing almost seemed…incredulous that Tifa would open her home so easily.

"Yes, I know, I'm a saint," Tifa said tiredly. "Now. Are you coming in, or do you want to freeze that pretty tail off outside for the rest of the night?"

It remained frozen in place for another minute, calculating, considering. Tifa was about to close the door when the dog-thing took a tentative step forward.

She mustered up the absolute last of her energy and smiled encouragingly down at him – judging purely by her observations of its physique and behavior, Tifa had mentally decided whatever-it-was was male. "That's the spirit, boy. Come on in."

The dog-thing glanced one last time up at Tifa and then charged determinedly into her house, skipping to keep its weight off of its bad foot.

Tifa closed the door behind her and placed the groceries on the counter. They were non-perishable goods; she'd sort them out later. She looked around one last time at the bar-room/living room area and spotted the dog-thing already crowded under a table, luminous blue-green eyes unblinking as it tracked her every movement.

Tifa smiled in earnest as it slowly, cautiously wagged its tail again. She flicked the lights off and, just before walking up the stairs, called a soft "good night."

She could have sworn that she heard an even softer bark in reply as she made her to her bedroom and well-deserved sleep.

…

"_Tifa!" _She could almost swear she could hear Cloud's voice, far away. She reached out blindly into oblivion for him…

Cloud?

And fell out of bed.

"Ow, f—"

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP—

Covering her ears with both hands, Tifa slammed her elbow forcefully down on the snooze button. There was a shattering of plastic and the clock gave a final, piteous warble from its fragments.

Tifa glared up at the ceiling accusatorily for the second time in the past twelve hours. Someone up there had to be laughing at her right now. She _did not _deserve this.

She sighed and heaved herself off of the floor with a graceful twist, heading for the shower. Denzel and Marlene were undoubtedly awake already, awaiting breakfast downstairs.

Tifa glanced at the bed next to hers as she stepped towards the bathroom, and her heart sank a little further. The cheerful red-and-white checked sheets on Cloud's bed were pristine.

Cloud hadn't come home last night.

Tifa exhaled a long breath, trying to control her disappointment. _He just needs…a little time and breathing space, that's all. He'll come back. He always does._

She studiously ignored the traitorous little voice in the back of her head that chanted over and over again: "—but not this time…"

Tifa had her hand on the bathroom doorknob and her head in the clouds when a thunderous crash sounded downstairs.

She promptly turned her back on the bathroom, heading to the stairs. Her shower could wait until after she'd finished making breakfast and tidying the bar. _Besides, if I wait any longer, there might not be a bar to come back to, _Tifa thought a little wryly, thinking of Denzel's most recent (and most explosive) attempt at cooking breakfast. Her adoptive children were well-intentioned, but they most certainly had not inherited any genes with culinary affinity.

A smile still lingering at the memory, Tifa called out as she rounded the corner. "Denzel? Marlene? What are you guys up to—"

"Tifa, stay back."

Cloud—_Cloud! He did come back—_stood near the bottom of the staircase, his back and spiky blonde hair the only things visible to her. His black-gloved hand rested on the hilt of the massive sword resting on his back. Marlene and Denzel huddled behind his protectively outstretched form, their faces creased with worry.

Tifa ignored the little leap her heart gave at seeing Cloud was home. "Cloud, what's wrong?"

A low, vicious growl answered her question.

The fox—dog-thing—had woken. Its fur bristled, making it look larger than it already was; its stance was tense and coiled, ready to leap forward or retreat on a moment's notice. Its black lips rose from sharp teeth, and its quiet warning grew more thunderous as it saw Tifa coming down the stairs.

Tifa's eyes widened, but not in fear or horror.

_My God…he's gorgeous._

The dog-thing—though with proper lighting, Tifa could see that it looked more like a fox than a dog—practically glowed under the first ribbons of sunlight streaming through the windows. The light dazzled off of his silver-white fur, and every inch, from the tip of its full, fluffy tail to the point of its narrow snout, looked elegantly deadly.

"Teef," intoned Cloud in a reasonable tone. "What the hell is that?"

Tifa had no fucking clue what the hell it was. Last night she'd almost been completely sure it was just a lonely stray mutt that was looking for a place to stay, but now, really looking at it…it looked more like one of Hojo's escaped experiments than any stray mutt she'd ever seen before.

"I…have no idea," she replied. "I let it in last night, but it didn't look like _that_ then…"

Tifa almost swore that the fox bristled as she spoke, as if taking offense to the tone she'd taken.

Cloud was already unsheathing his sword. He'd never really been one for deliberation. "Take the kids." He was already stepping forward, drawing out his sword, footsteps lethally silent as he ghosted towards the dog, preparing to execute—

"Wait!"

Marlene pattered quickly up to the fox, and, before Cloud or Tifa could stop her, flung her arms around its furry neck.

Tifa vaulted off of the staircase and hurtled towards Marlene the moment the little girl latched onto the dog-thing, disdaining the rest of the stairs, praying that somehow, against all odds, she'd get there in time to save Marlene from serious injury or even death at those pointed teeth because God, those teeth were so _sharp_, those jaws so _strong_—

And was caught by Cloud's outhrown arm.

"Cloud!" she snapped angrily, almost throwing the offending limb out of her way. "What the hell—"

"Look."

The fox hadn't budged. In fact, it had stopped growling entirely. Even as Tifa looked on in amazement, the beast sat down quietly on its haunches and flicked its tail out of the way as Marlene buried her face deeper into its thick ruff of neck fur.

"Looks like it's been domesticated," Cloud mused with a completely inappropriate serenity. His hand still gripped on his sword, but his eyes more thoughtful than determined to kill. "I guess we must have just spooked it."

The fox remained perfectly still as Marlene moved her hand to pet its side. Only his ears and tail continued to twitch.

"Denzel! C'mere, he's really soft!" Marlene called to Denzel, who still stood at the bottom of the staircase, frozen with indecision. The boy took a few steps forward but glanced up shyly at Tifa and Cloud for approval before drawing any closer. A pang of inexplicable pain shot through Tifa's heart at that look. _He's still so quiet…_ Tifa opened her mouth to encourage him…

"Go on."

Tifa was thoroughly confused. She hadn't said anything yet, she knew she hadn't, because her mouth was still open and she hadn't spoken – but then who had just encouraged Denzel in such a gentle, approving tone, the way she always did—

"He seems pretty tame," assured Cloud, reaching out his free hand to Denzel. "We just scared him at first, that's all."

Tifa was pretty sure she was dreaming. First Cloud had _coaxed_ Denzel – something she'd privately thought would never happen – and then he'd _reached out_ to the boy of his own volition, all the while seeming perfectly casual and natural, as if—

_As if he was finally done running away_.

Tifa started to smile as Denzel's face lit up and he took Cloud's hand, his little face practically worshipful as they both stepped closer to the fox.

And then the door flew open with a bang.

Then a couple of different things happened very quickly. The fox startled and soared towards the staircase where it planted its paws, bristling and growling ferociously at the front door. Tifa caught Marlene and swept the girl into her arms, already assuming a one-handed battle stance by the time her hair had cleared out of her field of view. Cloud had Denzel tucked surely behind him, his blade held straight out, ready to slice whatever monstrosity walked through the bar doors—

"Cloud Strife!" shrieked the highly peeved Yuffie Kisaragi as she stormed in. The petite ninja was scowling, but her eyes smiled. "How dare you come waltzing into town without so much as texting the rest of us! We were waiting to post our reunion party until you came home, you big freakin' jerk!"

"I gotta go with Shorty on this on, you mute jackass," grumbled Cid as he slunk in, looking as irritable as ever as he collapsed into a nearby chair. "Swear to God, what the fuck d'ya need a phone for if you ain't gonna fuckin' use it to call us every once in a—"

"…I need a phone," interrupted Vincent bluntly as he swept into the room, his worn and torn red cloak swirling in behind him.

"And I need a drink," declared Barrett with a note of finality as he slammed the abused door shut behind him with his foot. He grinned broadly at seeing Cloud and smacked him in a suitably manly fashion on the shoulder. "Hey, what up, Spiky?"

The fox's growling never once ceased. Cloud tried to talk over both the deep rumble and the commotion that had followed in Yuffie's footsteps. "I—"

"Whoa, that is a big-ass mother of a pup you got sittin' back there, Teef," Barrett whistled, peering over Cloud's shoulder at the source of the growl. "Where'd you pick up that one?"

Yuffie perked up at the world 'pup.' She turned, eyes wide and bright with excitement. "_Tifa_? Tifa, you got a _dog_?" Yuffie sounded scandalized. "Dude, you've been holding out on me, you jerk!" Without another word, she raced in the general direction of Barrett's gaze.

Tifa realized the impending disaster only once Yuffie was out of grabbing distance. "No – wait, hang on, Yuffie—"

The fox's warning grew exponentially louder as Yuffie threw herself at it, and its mouth began to open, razor teeth tilted to rend with maximum efficiency—

There was a flash of scarlet and black and as Tifa's eyes refocused, she was surprised to see that while the fox held Yuffie's forearm in its jaws, its fangs were only dimpling the skin rather than shredding as they had been so expertly engineered to do.

Though perhaps that had something to do with Vincent having the fox in a headlock, jamming Cerberus up against its lower jaw.

Semi-human ruby eyes bored into semi-human sapphire. In an even voice: "Do it. I dare you."

Tifa swore that she could see the fox's eyes narrow, as if it was seriously considering taking the risk…but to her relief (and Yuffie's), the fox obediently opened its mouth and allowed the little materia thief to skip back, clutching her only slightly bruised arm to her chest and scowling ferociously again.

Vincent held the fox's gaze for a moment more before releasing it with a faintly furrowed brow. He never took his eyes off of it as he scooted out of range of its teeth again. "Hn."

Before Tifa could ask Vincent what the issue was, she felt Marlene, still in her arms, gently tap her shoulder. She turned her head without thinking and found herself less than a foot away from huge, imploring green eyes. She felt a smile creeping onto her face. "Yes, sweetheart?"

"Tifa," Marlene said slowly, drawing out the word slightly more than absolutely necessary,  
>"can we keep him?"<p>

Well. She hadn't been expecting that.

Tifa blinked. "Uh…"

She raced through the feasibility of the situation. It was practically a feral creature, as had been established by Yuffie's earlier encounter, yet it seemed…well-behaved around children, as if it somehow knew that they were more delicate, more precious than other human beings. And in the few minutes that she'd seen it interact with the rest of her little family, Denzel had looked a little uplifted, Marlene had giggled at least three times, and Cloud? Cloud had actually tried _bonding_ with Denzel…

"Well…" Tifa flicked a glance at Cloud. "I don't know…" _Translation: Cloud, what do you think?_

Cloud stared at the fox, oblivious.

"_Please_?" Marlene begged shamelessly, batting those long, doe-eyelashes. "Everyone else at school has one, and I mean, look at him, he's pretty, too!"

While Tifa highly doubted the first part of Marlene's statement, it was true that the fox was a handsome one, even by canine standards. Sensing Tifa's skepticism, Marlene appealed to her surrogate brother. "What do you think, Denzel?"

"Umm…" Denzel shifted under the attention of all eyes. He rubbed his arm uncomfortably and addressed his shoes in a near-whisper: "I…kind of like him."

Tifa felt a flutter of pain in her heart at seeing his hesitancy. She'd hoped that maybe, just maybe, after the whole Geostigma incident Denzel would rediscover his strength of character…but it seemed like day after day, he regressed into his introverted shell more and more.

Pushing the thoughts aside, she tried plying Cloud again. "Well?" Tifa hoped that Cloud understood her point in asking everyone's opinion, _including_ the kids', before making a final decision. _**Soldiers**__ give orders, Cloud. __**Families**__ are democracies._

Cloud had yet to take his eyes off of the fox, and Tifa had the strangest sensation that they were somehow communing between the sets of glowing eyes. Finally Cloud looked up at the assembled cast of his surrogate family, although his gaze remained distant. "…I had a dog once. Back in…back in Nibelheim."

"You did?" Marlene chirped, eyes huge, voicing everyone's wordless shock.

"…Damn, Spiky, really? Me too," commented the somewhat-awed Barrett, more to avoid the consequent silence than actually put a point across.

Tifa seriously contemplated the probability of Cloud having developed split personality disorder in the past six hours. Cloud rarely – if ever – divulged information on his past, and generally it wasn't nonessential details like – well, like owning a dog. And on the rare occasions when he did talk about it, it was usually in short, terse clips, not in this dreamy, half-reminiscent tone. _This on top of the whole Cloud and Denzel father/son moment they'd just had…_

Tifa began considering PTSD.

"…I don't think…" Cloud began slowly, and Tifa's heart dropped.

And then he looked up at Tifa and, for once, met her eyes – "I don't think I'd mind having a dog around."

Tifa blinked. She was sure she'd heard wrong. "I…wha—"

"Then it's your dog now, right?" Yuffie interrupted, arms crossed, full of outrage.

"Yes!" Marlene cheered before Tifa could answer, wiggling to be let down. Still thunderstruck, Tifa obliged and let Marlene throw herself at the fox again. And, yet again, shockingly, the fox sat patiently as Marlene latched onto its neck.

"Then _your_ dog sucks!" Yuffie announced, nodding firmly.

_Marlene_ looked outraged now. "Don't say that! You'll hurt his feelings!"

Tifa thought she saw the fox roll its eyes.

"Oh good, now it's a 'he,'" grumbled Cid, loping towards the fridge. "Tell me when the midget's calmed down a little."

Yuffie's eyes flared as she whirled. "Who are you callin' a midget, old man?"

Cid choked on his beer. "Old man?"

Yuffie screwed up her face in a poor imitation of Cid's face. "I'm old and wrinkly and the only female who can tolerate me is my ship, and that's only 'cuz she _can't_ run away!"

"Why, you little—"

Tifa ignored the brawl that had started between Yuffie and Cid and walked over to where Marlene sat, petting the fox's fur. The fox had closed his eerie eyes and was simply basking in her affection, ears and tail twitching occasionally.

Tifa smiled at the blissed-out expression on the fox's face. _Yep, he's definitely been domesticated._

Then she noticed Denzel stood just a few feet away, fidgeting as he watched Marlene pat the fox. Tifa got down on her haunches next to him.

"So what do you think, Denzel?" she probed gently, ostensibly watching Marlene tug the fox's ear while sneaking glances at Denzel's expression.

Denzel still flinched. He looked away. "Well…uh. He's…really white." She could see the blush starting at his cheeks already.

"He sure is," she agreed patiently. She shot another look at the boy. "Do you…want to pet him?"

Denzel glanced at her, and she could see the flash of _hope-surprise-happiness_ before he turned away again, nervously fingering the edge of his shirt. "I…I don't think he likes me."

Tifa vowed that the fox _would_ like Denzel, no matter what. Rising from her crouch, she offered him a hand and a beaming smile. "I'm not so sure about that. Will you try again with me?"

Like any good mother, Tifa knew that patience was sometimes the only way to encourage initiative. She watched as the cogs turned in Denzel's head as his eyes flickered from Marlene to Tifa to the fox and back.

His hand started to move to take Tifa's. "Well…"

The fox got up suddenly and Denzel hastily withdrew. Tifa's frustration built and she glared heatedly at the beast. _ We were so close. If that stupid fox had just sat there a couple seconds more…_

Ignoring Tifa's dagger looks, the fox shook his mane once and yawned casually before walking away from Marlene.

And straight up to Denzel.

Denzel's eyes widened. "Uh…"

The fox then sat down daintily, situated his feet, and tilted his head up expectantly at Denzel, the sharp tips of its ears rolled back in relaxation.

"I think he wants you to pet him," clarified Marlene helpfully as she tagged along behind.

Almost in a daze, Denzel timidly placed his hand on the fox's head.

And the fox _purred_.

Tifa knew _somewhere_ in the back of her mind that only cats purred and that dogs just wagged their tails or panted contentedly when they were happy – but damn, if that fox wasn't conjuring up a rolling, soothing purr from somewhere deep in that chest, then where the hell could the noise be coming from?

"…I think he does like you," commented Tifa a tad unnecessarily, struggling not to cheer out loud as a smile spread across Denzel's face. Denzel was just as enraptured as Marlene, and before long the two of them were absorbed in running small hands through the fox's long fur.

"Seems strange that just any fox would react like that," noted Vincent softly from the side, and Tifa reluctantly agreed. From the way he'd reacted to Yuffie, he could _tolerate_ people but did not actively pursue human companionship. So approaching Denzel like that…

"What do you think, Vincent?" Tifa asked, meeting the gunman's shadowed eyes.

"I'd say it was an escaped experiment of Hojo's," answered Vincent honestly, monitoring the fox's movements. "It's too large to be a generic fox and, judging from its reactions, has some degree of human-level intelligence."

"Do you think the kids will be safe around him?" Tifa murmured, half-dreading the answer.

Vincent glanced at Tifa before replying. "With Hojo's experiments…you never know. I would ask Nanaki when he comes in town tomorrow. Perhaps it is some mutated form of one of Nanaki's people."

Tifa scrutinized the fox dubiously. He was roughly the same height as Nanaki, but that was pretty much where the similarity ended. Nanaki was broader through the chest and neck, with a stronger jaw, shorter and more muscular legs, and huge paws built for rugged terrain. The fox was…well, skinny, with willowy legs, an arrow-shaped skull, and paws no bigger than deer hooves.

"At the very least, Nanaki will be able to communicate with it," Vincent intoned in a voice that almost sounded like a sigh.

Tifa nodded absently as Marlene picked up one of the fox's paws. The fox did not protest, instead shifting its weight to the other three limbs.

"Have you decided on a name yet?" Yuffie blared unexpectedly in Tifa's ear, apparently having finished her spat with Cid.

Tifa reflexively flinched away. "Ah – I – no, I haven't."

"What about Rufus?" Yuffie suggested nonchalantly. Tifa almost choked – and completely missed how the fox's eyes suddenly focused on Yuffie, ears perking, tail waving slightly.

Cid snorted and voiced the general opinion. "Why would you name that poor fox after a complete jackass like that?"

The fox stiffened.

"The poor thing's been through enough," Tifa conceded dryly. "That would be adding insult to injury."

Yuffie pouted. "I was just _suggesting_ it. I mean, it's _the_ classic dog name."

"It ain't a dog, is it, you moron?" Cid grumped. Yuffie responded violently. Cid almost fell off of his chair as he scrambled to retaliate.

"Names are of utmost importance," commented Vincent idly. Tifa shot a sideways look at the ex-Turk, but his expression revealed nothing. She could almost swear that the ex-Turk enjoyed the confusion that his cryptic statements caused…

"Then why not let the kids decide?"

Tifa turned, more than surprised at Cloud's soft interjection. "That's…a great idea." _No, really. What did you do with the real Cloud and where did you hide him?_

"I say we name him Fluffy!" declared Marlene with the surprising volume that children can muster. The fox twitched its ears violently and stared at Marlene with what Tifa could almost construe as a death glare. The deep, rumbling growl started up again.

Cid gave a sharp, surprised laugh. "Well, now, the pup's got some sense in that little head of his. Too manly to be called something pussy like that."

The fox shifted his daunting stare to Cid, who stared fearlessly back.

"We could name him Fenrir. After Cloud's bike!" Yuffie interjected.

The fox growled again, more audibly this time.

"…I'm going to go ahead and assume that means he doesn't like that name," Vincent mused.

"Well, what the hell are we gonna name it? We can't just keep callin' it 'dog'," Barrett interrupted, more than slightly exasperated.

"…What about Nivaeus?" Denzel suggested softly.

Six confused looks focused on the boy, who immediately blushed under the collective scrutiny and turned away.

"It means 'white' or 'snowy' in Latin," Vincent explained. "And, taking into consideration the color of his fur, it seems…befitting."

"Damn, that's some weird shit they're teaching kids in school these days," Cid mumbled, earning himself a disapproving look from Tifa.

Yuffie cocked her head to the side and squinted at the fox. "Well, I dunno. He seems more silver than white to me, but now that you mention it…"

"Snowy!" Marlene squealed excitedly, tightening her death grip on the fox's neck. Tifa kept a close eye on the fox's mood, but he seemed content enough, even with the child clinging to his neck. "I like it!"

"It fits him," Denzel said as he patted the fox's shoulder blade, perhaps a little more surely than he had before. "And he's pretty enough for the name."

Cloud crouched to meet the fox's eye level. The fox never broke eye contact with Cloud, only twitching its ears in response to the movement.

"…Nivaeus…" Cloud said the name experimentally, as if he was measuring the weight and cadence of its syllables and consonants. "Nivaeus for white." After another moment, he straightened himself and walked back to the group. "I like it."

"Then it sounds like we have a consensus," Tifa said, smiling down at Marlene and Denzel, both of whom had yet to take their hands off of the fox. "Nivaeus it is."

Cid yawned conspicuously. "Well, this's been fun and all, but I was kinda hoping to actually catch up with the gang, the mute dumbass included, considering the fact that the damn boy never picks up his goddamn phone."

"Language…" Tifa scolded half-heartedly. After all, Marlene already had her fair share of exposure to profanity from Barrett and, as it turned out, took a gleeful joy in sharing her wealth of knowledge with Denzel.

"Can we go out and play, then?" Marlene begged. "_Please_?"

Cloud (as usual) did not react to Cid's jab as he turned to Tifa. "I think the kids will be okay with Nivaeus outside."

Tifa blinked and did not reply, because there was _no way_ that Cloud has just talked directly at her instead of directing his statement at a wall or at his shoes as he usually did.

Cloud's brow quirked upwards in questioning confusion. "…Tifa?"

"I – uh – yeah – uh, sure." Tifa wanted to hit herself. _Smooth, Teef. Smooth._

"Okay, thenwe'llseeyoulaterbye!" Marlene rushed, dragging Denzel out the front door. The newly christened Nivaeus tagged closely behind, trotting casually, ears relaxed, tail curved loosely and swaying from side to side, looking as comfortable and relaxed as if he'd always occupied the spot at the children's heels.

The fox glanced backwards one last time before exiting, as if committing the room and occupants to memory. He inadvertently met Tifa's eyes as she was walking to the bar.

And winked.

Tifa watched the fox slide serenely out the door with more than a little suspicion. _…I agree with Barrett. That is one weird-ass dog-thing._

"Teef!" Yuffie whined, breaking into Tifa's thoughts. "Are you coming? There's not enough women at the table!"

"Coming," Tifa called automatically, turning to return to the table, beer bottles in hand, trying to ease the inexplicable, troubled feeling that coiled in her stomach. The unblinking, pale blue eyes, the imperious bearing, even the odd coloring… _Why do I feel like I've seen that attitude before?_

"Don't worry too much, Teef," Yuffie piped up. Tifa was caught off guard; the little ninja could sometimes be surprisingly perceptive. Yuffie grinned widely. "After all, we all know that dogs are man's best friends."

Tifa couldn't help but smile in return. "Right."

"How many times do I have to remind you, midget? It ain't a dog, it's more like a fox-thing…" Cid interrupted, toasting Tifa gratefully with his opened beer.

"Oh, yeah, 'cuz calling it a 'a fox thing' is _so_ much better than calling it a 'dog'!" Yuffie hollered vehemently.

But even as a comfortable din settled in Seventh Heaven and the usual banter began conversation among the friends, the thought stayed lodged in the back of Tifa's mind…

_Why does Nivaeus seem so…familiar?_

* * *

><p><em>AN: Hope you enjoyed it! Suggestions/comments/questions are welcomed._

_QOTD: Has anyone figured out the answer to Tifa's rhetorical question? (Why does Nivaeus seem so familiar?) If so, please message me and tell me who! I love to hear that the readers are intrigued. :) I live to please lol!_

_Much love,  
><em>_~From the desk of the Black Cat_


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